Tallying homeless difficult

Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 12:57 AM.

“We have hundreds of people living doubled-up with family or friends,” she said. “They can be asked to leave at any time with nowhere to go.”

She said there are a large number of teenagers who live wherever they can find a place to sleep for the night.

“These children are couch surfing from one place to the next,” she said. “Sometimes they have no idea where to go after school.”

Many of these homeless teens don’t get the help they need because they are afraid that if they are found out they will be shipped off to a juvenile hall. But the reality is that McKinney-Vento guarantees homeless children an education at the school they attended prior to becoming homeless.

“The have the right to an education at the same school,” Holbrook said, adding that the children are provided free breakfast and lunch, and some schools provide a backpack meal for dinner.

CAN-DO was at the Homeless Veterans Stand Down on Tuesday where they were able to add six people to their count. But Holbrook said all the numbers are skewed by gross underreporting.

Chances are the kid sitting next to your child in math class is homeless.

There are more than 500 homeless children in Onslow County Schools, according to the Community Advisory Network – Developing Onslow, an organization once known as the Homeless Coalition that combats area homelessness under the umbrella of the United Way.

These children are often invisible to the untrained eye, slipping through the cracks while not knowing where they’re going when the last school bell rings each day, said CAN-DO co-chairwoman Kathleen Holbrook.

CAN-DO conducted a countywide homeless count last week, a requirement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in order to receive federal funding to fight homelessness.

Volunteers found 84 people living in cars, tents, parks, burned-out trailers, storage units, under bridges and other less-than-seemly places. They lack adequate shelter, water and electricity.

But HUD’s definition of homeless — someone who lives outside — overlooks hundreds of people who may live indoors, but not in their home.

Holbrook said she prefers the definition of homelessness as put forward in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. The act states that anyone without a permanent residence should be considered homeless.

And that means a lot of folks in OnslowCounty, Holbrook said.

“We have hundreds of people living doubled-up with family or friends,” she said. “They can be asked to leave at any time with nowhere to go.”

She said there are a large number of teenagers who live wherever they can find a place to sleep for the night.

“These children are couch surfing from one place to the next,” she said. “Sometimes they have no idea where to go after school.”

Many of these homeless teens don’t get the help they need because they are afraid that if they are found out they will be shipped off to a juvenile hall. But the reality is that McKinney-Vento guarantees homeless children an education at the school they attended prior to becoming homeless.

“The have the right to an education at the same school,” Holbrook said, adding that the children are provided free breakfast and lunch, and some schools provide a backpack meal for dinner.

CAN-DO was at the Homeless Veterans Stand Down on Tuesday where they were able to add six people to their count. But Holbrook said all the numbers are skewed by gross underreporting.

“There are a lot more homeless out there than we can find,” she said. “Especially those who are temporarily staying with someone.”

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.